memeorandum: Just a ‘handful of weeks’ left to strike nuclear deal with Iran, official says (Amanda Macias/CNBC)

9:00 PM ET, January 31, 2022

Top Items:

Some records sent to Jan. 6 committee were torn up, taped back together — mirroring a well-known Trump habit — The National Archives confirmed Trump's unusual habit of ripping up documents, which forced aides to attempt to piece them back together in order to comply with the Presidential Records Act.

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Political Wire and National Zero

CNN:

Exclusive: Mike Pence's former chief of staff testifies in House January 6 investigation — (CNN)Marc Short, former Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, quietly testified before the House select committee investigating January 6 last week in response to a subpoena, sources tell CNN …

Discussion: New York Times, CBS News, The Hill, Washington Examiner, NBC News, ABC News, Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo, Rolling Stone and Raw Story

CNN:

Exclusive: Trump advisers drafted more than one executive order to seize voting machines, sources tell CNN — Reporter calls Trump WH draft executive order ‘fictional thriller’ — (CNN)Former President Donald Trump's advisers drafted two versions of an executive order to seize voting machines …

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Trump makes the coup-deniers look silly again — Key members of the Republican Party have spent the better part of six years pretending Donald Trump wasn't really doing that. This is often followed by Trump himself confirming that's precisely what he was doing.

Discussion: Raw Story, Politico, Bloomberg, The Mahablog, Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone, The Washington Current, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, The Wrap, The Hill, The Status Kuo and Media Matters for America

CNN:
Some Trump White House records handed over to January 6 committee had been ripped up

Discussion: The Hill

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

The New York Times Buys Wordle — The word game, released in October, has millions of daily users. — The sudden hit Wordle, in which once a day players get six chances to guess a five-letter word, has been acquired by The New York Times Company. — The purchase, announced by The Times on Monday …

Discussion: The A.V. Club, Deadline, Mediaite, Engadget, The Atlantic, The Wrap, Gawker, Mercury News and CBS News

The New York Times Company:

Wordle Is Joining The New York Times Games — Wordle, Josh Wardle's stimulating and wildly popular daily word game, is joining The New York Times's portfolio of original, engaging puzzle games that delight and challenge solvers everyday. — New York Times Games have captivated solvers since the launch of The Crossword in 1942.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Deseret News, The Hill, Nieman Lab, NPR, Axios, CBS News, KXAN-TV, TechCrunch, ABC7, Variety and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Russia responds in writing to U.S. proposal on Ukraine crisis — The Russian government has delivered a written response to a U.S. proposal aimed at de-escalating the Ukraine crisis, said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions.

Discussion: Fox News, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Defense One, NPR, Forbes, Doug Mann's Newsletter, One America News Network, New York Post, Foreign Policy, TASS and Anti-bellum

The Guardian:
US to target Putin's inner circle with sanctions in event of Ukraine invasion

Discussion: The Moscow Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Voice of America

James Politi / Financial Times:
US plans sanctions against Vladimir Putin's inner circle if Russia moves on Ukraine

Discussion: One America News Network, CBS News, The Guardian, Reuters, CNN, The Bismarck Cables and Тел …

Julia Davis / The Daily Beast: Trump's Mega-Fans in Moscow Declare They're ‘Ready to Elect Him Again’

Alayna Treene / Axios:

Scoop: Trump helps launch NRSC podcast — The Senate Republicans' campaign and fundraising arm is launching a new podcast — with Donald Trump as its debut guest and donor lure. — Why it matters: It shows how crucial the GOP considers Trump to its chances of taking back the majority.

Discussion: Raw Story and Vanity Fair

Politico:
Senate Dems back off Manchin and Sinema — except Bernie

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Washington Examiner

Matt Vespa / Townhall:
Should the GOP Shut Down the Government Over Vaccine Mandates?

Discussion: Politico and Washington Times

Claire Atkinson / Insider:

Rachel Maddow to take a temporary break from her MSNBC show to work on movie and podcast projects — Rachel Maddow is taking a hiatus from her top-rated MSNBC show starting February 7. — The star anchor will work for a few weeks on new projects with her former boss Phil Griffin.

Discussion: New York Post, New York Times, Washington Examiner, The Hill, HuffPost, POLITICUSUSA, Ace of Spades HQ, Variety, The Right Scoop, Hollywood Reporter, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Wrap, TVNewser and Twitchy

Amanda Macias / CNBC:

Just a ‘handful of weeks’ left to strike nuclear deal with Iran, official says — The signatories of the Iran nuclear deal only have a “handful of weeks left” to strike a deal and usher in a mutual return to compliance with the agreement. — The official said that the U.S. was not imposing an …

Discussion: CNN, The National Interest and Shouts from the Void

New York Times:
U.S. and Allies Close to Reviving Nuclear Deal With Iran, Officials Say

Discussion: Diplomatic, and Political Wire

Monmouth University Polling Institute:

Time to Accept Covid and Move On? — Americans still concerned about virus, but lose faith in federal measures — West Long Branch, NJ - Americans continue to be concerned about the spread of Covid, but the vast majority say it is time to accept it as part of life.

Discussion: Politico, HotAir, Townhall, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, OutKick and Political Wire

FIRE:

Faculty Letter in Support of Ilya Shapiro, January 31, 2022 — Dear Dean Treanor: — We understand that some have called for Ilya Shapiro to be fired from his position as Executive Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, because of his tweet criticizing President Biden's pledge to appoint a black woman as a Justice.

Discussion: Reason

Nate Hochman / National Review:
Georgetown Law to Put Ilya Shapiro on Administrative Leave

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Twitchy and TaxProf Blog

FIRE:
FIRE statement on Georgetown's suspension and investigation of Ilya Shapiro

Discussion: Insider and Inside Higher Ed

Washington Post:

Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children under 5 could be available by the end of February, people with knowledge say — Coronavirus vaccines for children younger than 5 could be available far sooner than expected — perhaps by the end of February — under a plan that would lead …

Julian Mark / Washington Post:

He's declining a coronavirus vaccine at the expense of a lifesaving transplant: 'I was born free, I'll die free' — For more than four years, Chad Carswell, 38, has suffered from severe kidney disease. In July 2020, he started on dialysis — but now his kidneys are functioning at just 4 percent.

Discussion: BizPac Review, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, KOLN and Fox News

Associated Press:

US federal prisons on lockdown after 2 Texas inmates killed — WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal prison system has been placed on a nationwide lockdown after two inmates were killed and two others were injured Monday during a gang altercation at a federal penitentiary in Texas.

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

Trump ally pushes Republican Party to expel Cheney, Kinzinger — The resolution, to be debated at the RNC annual meeting in Salt Lake City this week, would be an unusual and public rebuke from a political party against two of its incumbent members of Congress

Discussion: Raw Story and Power Line

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
The question for the GOP: Trump or American democracy?

Discussion: CNN and New York Times

Politico:

Gray Lady ain't done with Hunter yet — Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. — The New York Times is still digging into HUNTER BIDEN's business relationships.

Meridith McGraw / Politico:

Trump World adjusts to the growing influence of vaccine skeptics within its ranks — A few weeks ago, Donald Trump decried politicians who did not share their Covid-19 vaccine booster status as “gutless”—a seeming swipe at other Republicans with presidential ambitions, mainly Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis …

Discussion: CNN

David Leonhardt / New York Times:
The Power of Boosters — New C.D.C. data shows their effectiveness.

Discussion: HotAir

Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:

Biden's chief of staff leaked Breyer retirement to ‘limited’ group, Durbin says — President Joe Biden's chief of staff leaked Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's plan to retire to “a limited group” on Wednesday, a top Democrat told reporters. — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman …

Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:

Fox News wanted viewers to hear an anti-vax trooper's story - until he died of COVID — Last week's toll of more than 16,000 recorded U.S. deaths from COVID-19 is made all the more heartbreaking because so many of the deceased had the opportunity to take vaccines that dramatically reduce the danger posed by the virus.

Discussion: The Independent, MyNorthwest.com and National Zero

George Packer / The Atlantic:

The Betrayal — I. — The End — It took four presidencies for America to finish abandoning Afghanistan. George W. Bush's attention wandered off soon after American Special Forces rode horseback through the northern mountains and the first schoolgirls gathered in freezing classrooms.

Discussion: HotAir

Christopher Hutton / Washington Examiner:

Gabbard compares Biden's future Supreme Court pick to ‘disaster’ Kamala Harris — Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard compared President Joe Biden's future Supreme Court pick to the “disaster” that she believes Kamala Harris has been as vice president. — Gabbard expressed concerns on Monday on Twitter about Biden's future Supreme Court pick.

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, National Review, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Based Politics, NOQ Report, Political Wire, IJR and FiveThirtyEight

Baltimore Sun:
Sherrilyn Ifill should be Biden's Supreme Court pick; here's why

Discussion: ABC News, The American Independent, Washington Post, Forbes and The Hill

Robby Soave / Reason:

Hispanic Students Were Forced To Learn Critical Race Theory. They Hated It. — During the 2020 fall semester, Kali Fontanilla—a high school English language teacher working in the Salinas, California, school district—noticed that many of her students were failing one of their other classes: ethnic studies.

Discussion: HotAir and Twitchy

Scott Powers / Florida Politics:

Gov. Ron DeSantis' Press Secretary's tweet suggests denial of Nazi protest — The Press Secretary for Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared Sunday night to question whether a Nazi flag hung from an Orange County bridge was in fact the effort of Nazis. — In a tweet she posted Sunday night and later deleted …

Discussion: CNN, Orlando Sentinel, WKMG, Breitbart, The Times of Israel, National Zero and Mediaite

Andy Campbell / HuffPost:
Nazis Rally In Florida, DeSantis Spox Falsely Blames Dem ‘Stunt’

Discussion: The Times of Israel, WESH-TV, Politico, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Associated Press and Florida Politics

Benjamin Wallace-Wells / New Yorker:

The Marxist Who Antagonizes Liberals and the Left — The renowned Black scholar Adolph Reed opposes the politics of anti-racism, describing it as a cover for capitalism. — Within the world of racial politics, Adolph Reed is the great modern denouncer. His day job, for forty years, was as a political scientist.

Victoria Eavis / Casper Star-Tribune:

Rep. Liz Cheney breaks her campaign's quarterly fundraising record — Rep. Liz Cheney reported her highest fundraising quarter yet, raising $2.05 million in the fourth quarter of last year, according to figures first shared Monday with the Star-Tribune. — The haul exceeds amounts raised earlier in the year.

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill and Washington Examiner